Rusbal, a Russian toy company started in 1993 by a hot air balloon enthusiast, originally made hot air balloons, inflatable children's play sets, and inflatable costumes. Eventually the company began making inflatable jets, tanks, and surface-to-air missile batteries as part of a Russian tactic known as maskirovka—warfare by deception.

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We almost forgot about this inflatable armada until we saw this tweet pop up in our "feed" this morning:

Many commentators have mocked Russia's inflatable army as a sign of "weakness" — and lack of rubles.

Except Russia is the largest country in the world (so not so easy to cover with military hardware), and only the United States can afford to spend $600 billion each year on "defense".

We love this so much:

Let the games continue:

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